By the end of January, the USF Administration had made it clear that it had not entirely made up its mind to fire Al-Arian. President Genshaft was going to guage campus and public opinion. The result was that Al-Arian was in limbo while people expressed opinions, and instead of due process, there was pressuring, appealing, lobbying, imploring, spinning, and other politicking.

The first satiric look at this controversy observed by this webmaster - other than the `I Don't SPEAK for USF buttons' - was the last item in Dustin Dwyer's `In search of the Almighty Dollar' in the Feb. 1 Oracle.

Pundit-Watch

Four columns:

• Genshaft's choice carries ramifications remarked the Feb. 2 St. Petersburg Times, speculating on the effects of her decision on her career. BOT Chairman Richard Beard says that Al-Arian `terrorized' the campus and that it would be `intolerable' to retain him - although he would support Genshaft if she decided to do so.
• Steve Chapman, in the Feb. 3 Chicago Tribune, said the dismissal was `the moral equivalent of banning a peaceful civil rights march led by Martin Luther King Jr. because a mob of thugs might decide to beat the marchers to a pulp.'
• Commentator Daniel Pipes says in the Feb. 4 New York Post that Al-Arian is a Terror aiding prof.
• On Feb. 6, St. Petersburg Times regular Mary Jo Melone looked at Quite the odd couple: Al-Arian and Sharon.

Summing up

And where is all this going?

• Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times said that `USF president's decisions have stained the school's reputation' on Feb. 3.
• And the Feb. 4 Associated Press said that Firing decision could affect USF president's future.
• The World Socialist Web Site (maintained by the International Committee of the Fourth International) reported that Palestinian professor victimized in Florida on Feb. 6.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education is taking a long look at the issue.

• **Blaming the Victim? A university vows to fire a tenured professor facing death threats in the wake of September 11 appeared as the Feb. 8 issue's cover story; on Feb. 4, the e-version of the Chronicle says that `Sami Al-Arian ... may become the first tenured professor to lose his job, post-September 11, for his words.'
• On Feb. 6, The Chonicle of Higher Education ran the following colloquoy: Should Sami Al-Arian be dismissed from his tenured job at the University of South Florida? Also, there were comments posted.

More Commentary

The debated continued.

• The PalmBeachPost.com, in a Feb. 7 editorial called , Mob rule at university, said that `In the first hard test of academic freedom for the state universities' new governing boards, the University of South Florida's board flunked. It played to the mob.'
• On the other hand, David Tell of the Weekly Standard column on Judy Genshaft's Ordeal, says that President Genshaft `has conducted herself more than honorably in the Sami Al-Arian affair.' (In the Mar. 4 issue, 4:24 p. 8, Jo-Ann Mort, the National Secretary of the Americans for Peace Now, said in her letter to the Weekly Standard that Tell smeared Khalil Shikaki by association; Tell partially retracts.)
• And on the subject of Professor al-Arian, the National Association of Scholars `strongly endorses the right of professors and students across the political spectrum to ... expound their views freely', while observing the irony of politically correct professors now whining about academic freedom.
• Furthermore, on Feb. 7, The Tampa Tribune claims that Al-Arian's Menacing Record Nails Him as Foe of U.S. and USF.
• Ronald Radosh of FrontPageMagazine.com on Feb. 8 contrasts the ignoble left-wing motives for defending al-Arian from the noble right-wing motives for defending al-Arian before calling for al-Arian's dismissal.

• On Feb. 7, the St. Petersburg Times and the *Tampa Tribune reported that the AAUP will send a team of investigators to USF to investigate the university's treatment of Professor Al-Arian.
• In the Oracle's Feb. 7 story on the Colloquy, USF spokesman Michael Riech is quoted as saying, ``At least half of her [President Genshaft's] time is spent on this [the Al-Arian case].''

Meanwhile, more opinions ....

• On Feb. 7, the George Washington independent newspaper GW Hatchet reported GW University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg `` *I would have thought that things you say outside of the classroom would be protected by the First Amendment,'' and about George Washington University, that, ``I get faculty here who say things that I absolutely abhor,'' but he doesn't intend to fire any of them. The Hatchet also editorialized that `` No free society is secure without the free exchange of ideas, even unpopular ones.''
• On Feb. 9, President Genshaft dismissed rumors of her departure in the Tampa Tribune.
• On Feb. 10, USF Professor Marc Defant wrote that Actions Taint USF's Reputation in the Tampa Tribune.
• The Feb. 13-19 Weekly Planet carried a column by USF alumnus & Senior Editor Fawn Germer on Genshaft's perfomance, quoting Genshaft quoting Martin Luther King, Jr.: `The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in time of comfort and convenience ... but where he stands in time of challenge and controversy.'
• On Feb. 14, the Oracle describes The long road ahead: If USF is censured for violating academic freedom, it won't be official until 2003. The AAUP team is expected to visit USF during the weekend of March 16 & 17.
• On Feb. 14, The Florida Ledger said that Professor Al-Arian Defends His Beliefs, following a Feb. 13 announcement of his talk at Lakeland and his explanation of what he said in 1988.
• On Feb. 14, the Tampa Tribune says that Al-Arian Uses Church Forum To Criticize U.S. Policy.
• On Feb. 15, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education published a Policy Statement by The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education on the Intended Firing of Dr. Sami Al-Arian which reviews the legal and political situation and warns: Rather than protect liberty and academic freedom from mob rule, some universities would prefer to appease the angry mob. Letting the decision of USF stand permits careerist administrators to put free speech to a vote: the ideas that people find untroubling are left unmolested, while ideas that may cause too much trouble, too much debate, and too much thought are abandoned.
• On Feb. 15, visiting the University of California at Davis, Professor al-Arian spoke at the ASUCD coffee house, as reported in the Feb. 18 California Aggie. And as reported in the Feb. 19 sf.indymedia.org, Sami Al-Arian spoke at the Berkeley Palestinian Solidarity Conference.
• On Feb. 18, the USF Group for Phi Beta Kappa sent a letter to President Genshaft expressing their concern about the long-term effect of this controversy on USF.
• The Feb. 20 Temple Terrace News (Temple Terrace is the suburb just east of USF) ran a column by Joe O'Neill saying that USF Devalued by Al-Arian Ordeal.
• The Feb. 21 (University of) Minnesota Daily said that USF must protect faculty from threats.

• On Feb. 20, during the weekly Wednesday Flea Market, there was a pro-Genshaft demonstration ... and a counter-demonstration.
  • The Feb. 21 Oracle said that An issue of polarity: A support rally for the president turns into a shouting match of semantics.
  • The Feb. 21 St. Petersburg Times said that Rally for USF chief turns into debate: About 25 Judy Genshaft supporters and 50 detractors square off over the fate of professor Sami Al-Arian.
  • The Feb. 21 Tampa Tribune said Squaring off over Al-Arian.
  Meanwhile, in the Feb. 20-26 Weekly Planet, Rochelle Renford reports in Out of the Mouth of Genshaft that at a recent Rotary Club meeting, a Rotarian asked her why any immigrants should be allowed to teach at USF, President `Genshaft said that immigrants should be allowed to teach, but not terrorists'.

The U.S. Attorney would like to remind everyone ...

Interim U.S. Attorney Mac Cauley would like to remind everyone that after about six years, that the FBI is still investigating Professor al-Arian --- and that they still have nothing to report. This timely reminder was announced in the press:

• The Associated Press (via the Feb. 22 Florida Ledger) said that U.S. Attorney: Al-Arian Under Inquiry. But on Feb. 23, Al-Arian says federal probe is all about politics.
• The Feb. 23 Bradenton Herald reported that Al-Arian labels probe politics.
• The Feb. 22 Oracle said that U.S. Attorney confirms Al-Arian probe.
• The Feb. 22 St. Petersburg Times said that U.S. says Al-Arian is under study: An official says the U.S. attorney wants to dispel the notion that the teacher has been cleared. (The St. Petersburg Times also asked a number of risk management experts Should he stay or should he go?, and reported their responses on Feb. 22.) On Feb. 23, the St. Petersburg Times said that Amid new probe, Al-Arian speaks (although at six years, this probe is not all that new).
• The Feb. 22 Tampa Tribune said that Al-Arian Investigation `Active and Ongoing'. On Feb. 23, the Tampa Tribune said that the Pace Of Case On Al-Arian Is Defended. On Feb. 23, the Tampa Tribune editorialized in The Sami Al-Arian Story Proceeds that `Supporters of Sami Al-Arian ... have long maintained that he was cleared ...'; but the position of UFF and others defending Al-Arian's rights was that Al-Arian had the right to a hearing and to hear the charges against him. In this country, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

More from the Fourth Estate

As the American Federation of Teachers runs an article on how Union takes on academic freedom in Florida, the controversy continues to grow ...

• Counterpunch on Feb. 25 posted an article on Naked Sin: The Ordeal of Nahla Sami Al-Arian.
• Nicholas Kristof, in the Mar. 1 New York Times, said that the issue was Putting Us to the Test.
• On Mar. 3, the St. Petersburg Times ran a front-page (& 3 more pages) restrospective article on The Al-Arian argument, which is actually about Al-Arian's experience, plus views of some other major players.
• Steven Emerson has written a book, American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us. It has about 170 pages of text (not including appendices) of which about 20 are devoted to a chapter on ``Jihad in the Academy,'' which is all about Al-Arian at USF. Reviews are mixed; for example:
  • It is somewhat unfavorably reviewed in the Mar. 3 Salon article Terrorists under the bed.
  • The National Review has published a more positive review.
  The webmaster finds the book a bit disappointing. It is not about terrorists; it is a collection of stories about things that alleged terrorists allegedly did. The book shows little interest in terrorists or indeed in people or even organizations in themselves: indeed, the book chronicles charges, denials, and various suspicious facts, but he never really seems to get beyond Who, What, When, and Where (notice the absence of How and Why).
• On Mar. 5, Nicholas Kristoff (see Mar. 1 item above) appeared on the O'Reilly Factor, for an inconclusive squabble over a letter.
  On an entirely irrelevant tangent, the webmaster can't resist that on Mar. 6, Hans Holzer and Tom Hayden appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to debate Jane Fonda's conduct during the Vietnam War. As a major Florida columnist says, I am not making this up. Those reading this discussion may recall that the `House Internal Security Committee' was the renamed `House Un-American Activities Committee.'

• On March 1, the Chairs of the College of Arts and Science passed the following resolution by unanimous (29-0) vote:
  The Council of Chairpersons of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of South Florida believes that the abrogation of tenure of a tenured faculty member, as in the case of Professor Al-Arian, no matter how serious the allegations, requires a review of the allegations and a recommendation by a committee of faculty peers applying due process guided by the principles of the AAUP guidelines on academic freedom and tenure.
• On March 4, The Oracle run a 2-page story on how President Genshaft is a Jury of One, and how ``The fate of tenured professor Sami Al-Arian rests solely upon the decision rendered by USF's president.'' She did not see any point in speaking to Al-Arian before making her decision, but she said, ``I go to bed thinking about it. I wake up thinking about it.''

The Union Elections

Since the union is defending Al-Arian's tenure rights, the annual union election has Al-Arian as an issue.

• The Mar. 7 Oracle reported that UFF elections won't affect Al-Arian case. Unfortunately, the gentle webmaster (Greg McColm) does not recall saying what was quoted in the article, and distinctly recalls saying that the elections wouldn't change the union's primary mission to negotiate and defend the contract --- which means that the union defends the contract when the contract comes under attack.

Robert O'Neil on Academic Freedom

On March 7, Robert O'Neil, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, and former President of the Universities of Virginia and Wisconsin, visited USF and spoke on

• This lecture was announced in the Mar. 7 Oracle in an article entitled Scholar speaks today on academic freedom.
• His lecture concerned the laws and precedent of academic freedom in general, as well as some past cases, including some from his own experience. He made several points:
  • Academic tenure is still necessary to protect academics who take unpopular positions.
  • Tenure is not a guarantee of lifetime employment: faculty can lose tenure due to the university's financial exigency (including the elimination of a program or department), disability, or ``cause,'' including various forms of misconduct.
  • There should be clear standards and a coherent process for granting and withdrawing tenure. The Administration bears the burden of initiating the procedure for termination, and bears the burden of proof.
  • There is considerable precedent for academic freedom applying to outside a faculty member's own area of expertise.
  • The standard for criminal sanction for expression that leads to violence or threat of violence is the current high standard set in Brandenburg v. Ohio (U.S. Supreme Court, 1969); the standards for civil sanction are less clear.
• The lecture was described in the Mar. 8 Oracle, which lead with USF/UFF President Weatherford's criticism of USF President Genshaft. It was also described in the Mar. 18 Shanachie, beginning with UFF President Roy Weatherford's introductory comment: ``As a general rule, when issues of principle, free speech, and academic freedom are involved, if you're on the majority side, you're almost always on the wrong side because the point of these principles is not to defend the majority view and the popular speakers. The point is to defend those who are unpopular and who are being harassed.''

Committee A of the American Association of University Professors, which investigates academic freedom cases, sent a team of three who visited USF during the weekend of March 15, 16, 17. The chairman of the team revisited on March 21. The team was:

• William W. Van Alstyne, former Deputy Attorney-General of California, former member of the National Board of Directors of the ACLU, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and William R. & Thomas S. Perkins Chair of Law at Duke University.
• Stephen Leberstein, Executive Director of the Center for Worker Education at the City University of New York & City College of New York.
• Ann M. Lesch, Professor of Political Science at Villanova Univesity, concentrating on MidEastern studies.

• On Mar. 16, the Bradenton Herald reported that Professors review Al-Arian charges (later retitled Florida University Pressured to Retain Professor with Alleged Terrorist Ties), quoted President Genshaft saying, ``I don't have a side. Everybody thinks I do have a side and I am really gathering information.''
• On Mar. 15, the Associated Press reported that *Professors group question USF officials in Al-Arian treatment, in which USF/UFF President Weatherford warned that, ``We are already becoming known in America as a place where academic freedom is threatened.''
• The Mar. 16 St. Petersburg Times reported that Peers weigh Al-Arian matter: An academic watchdog group interviews USF president Judy Genshaft and the embattled professor.
• The Mar. 15 Tampa Tribune announced that USF's Decision to Fire Al-Arian Under Review. On Mar. 16, the Tampa Tribune followed up with an article in which Al-Arian is quoted saying: ``I think she has made up her mind and is surprised that this is really going to hurt USF ....''
• Team chairman Van Alstyne revisited USF on Mar. 21, and met several people, including a delegation of students led by Student Senator Mike Berman, who said that USF shouldn't tolerate a professor ``spreading hatred'' (see the Mar. 22 Oracle). Van Alstyne said that, ``the [due process] procedure is too much like ... Alice in Wonderland: verdict first, trial later.''